People on this list know my overall feelings about seiu. Lots of good, lots of bad. Many troubling things that have been getting worse and not better; on the other hand, they have succeeded at new organizing in the private sector at a scale no one else has, making them relevant at a time when the left is less and less relevant every year.
But Andy's claims about SEIU, and Doug's admission that they supply much of his own perspective on the union, and Chris here's claim that those claims are some sort of 'proof in the pudding', go to the heart of what wearies me about the entire labor debate. Andy, whatever other merits he had, did not provide an accurate, nuanced or balanced assessment of seiu. He offered one that was quite energetically and openly that of a disgruntled former employee. Almost everyone on every side of the debate has long since descended into intellectually dishonest, grotesque mischaracterizations of some rather complex and difficult situations and organizations. Part of this is the natural heat from spirited partisan combat in left discourse or industrial relations, but in the past two years venomous nonsense has taken a great leap ahead of reasonable discussion. Everyone involved in the debates and fights is guilty of this, myself certainly included, and it's getting worse, and will probably continue to do so.
Much is wrong with SEIU. The occupation if UHW is indefensible. The actions in Puerto Rico are indefensible. Stern has a vision of trade unionism frankly at odds with the vision of most of us and, probably, most seiu members to boot. Burger will be worse.
Here's a thought experiment I often pose to my friends in seiu who still defend stern's vision. consider this: If EFCA passes as currently written, many industrial relations experts are concerned that one of the bad outcomes would be a ton of company unions being formed by anti-union employers. If that did indeed happen, what do you think Stern's orientation to those company unions would be? Indeed, almost everyone agrees, he would enthusiastically seek to affiliate them. I'm NOT saying seiu is a company union--- they're certainly not. But Andy and Anna's vision has seiu moving in the direction of being more like one. I suspect andy and anna think trade unions as conceived of in the past, are not going to exist in the future of the US private sector (they may be right about this--- indeed, the data indicates they are almost certainly right!). So their idea is form a new organization that is a cross between AARP, facebook, and a semi-independent HR department for corporate america. This is not a vision widely shared in the labor movement or in seiu. But in the absence of other leaders having not only alternative plans, but also a proven track record of results, Andy and Anna have been able to take seiu on a real ride. The ride is picking up speed. Some are getting off. Most are worried about where it's going. Depressingly, there is no effective factionalism inside SEIU to change the union's course.
But the things andy said in that email doug posted? Frankly, just not anything close to my own experience. Certainly there's many political decisions referenced in that email that I personally would oppose. But the idea that this is all a big anti-worker conspiracy is nuts. Because of the nature of my own career in the union, I've hopped around quite a bit, seen quite a few different locals, a number of different nooks and crannies of the union. With a few exceptions, Andy's portrait is cariacature, not analysis. It exemplifies the sort of unbalanced, mutual hatreds that characterize labor these days. Nobody is even attempting to understand different organizations and different points of view.
Ironically, the radical left and organized labor, so long connected, look like they'll die on parallel paths. The left no longer exists in the US outside of countercultures, sects and academia. Organized labor barely exists outside of the public sector and a few soon-to-be- extinct manufacturing industries. Both are on a course to continue their slide into extinction. Both are accelerating their decline with internicine feuds that are incomprehensible to 99.9% of working people. Indeed, the maintenance of these feuds these days seems to be the main activity of both the left and labor. If ever a crisis was going to emerge to revive one or both, it is the current economic crisis; and yet the crisis is only hastening the imploding irrelevancy of both the radical left and organized labor.
Last one out hit the lights. On your way out, make sure you take maximum shots at everyone who saw things differently than you. Only their inherent moral goodness it to be attacked, and all their actions and beliefs must be cariacatured for maximum evil, without exception--- context, reasonableness and nuance are not permitted.
What a waste.